I almost fell prey to a fake designer seller. Of all people, I really thought that I would be the last one to be cheated. After all, I’m educated, exposed and I keep up with the latest in fashion. Recently, I almost bought a fake Chanel bag.
It all started when I was surfing the net. I found this Facebook account of a lady who claims to sell authentic designer goods. The Facebook page even has tenths of thousands of fan likes. So I thought, people must trust her. Right? Plus, most of what she posts on Facebook gets sold out very quickly. The story is that she has a sister who is a flight attendant who helps her buy all her designer goods. On top of that, she says that she also goes to Paris on holidays. She even posted a photo of her in front of Eiffel Tower!
And one day, I saw a Chanel 2.55. I had always wanted the bag but the price had always made me pause. I thought if I bought it from this lady, I would save $1500. Yeah, that extra $1500 would buy me a designer purse to match the bag.
I did my research, asked her lots of questions. At the time, I thought I could tell a fake from a genuine Chanel. So I decided to buy. The agreement was to meet in person as I was reluctant to have the bag mailed to me. After all, I am still paying a high price!
We met at a shopping mall. It just so happened that my colleague ‘F’ was with me at the time because she drove that day. The lady took out the bag for me to see. I really saw nothing wrong with it and was ready to make the payment. Until my colleague nudged at me as if trying to signal something. I didn’t understand. F suddenly said that she needed to go to the toilet and that she wanted me to accompany her. So I apologised to the lady and asked her to wait for us to return.
In the toilet, F broke the news to me, “The bag is fake!”. According to F, the first rule of thumb is to check the CC logo. Apparently, the C on the right should overlap the left C which is facing the other way and when she saw that the other C was on top, she knew it was fake!
In my head, I had already planned what to say to this lying sack. To call her a con and embarrass her in front of shoppers, get her arrested, etc. But when we went back to the meeting place, she was gone! She must have guessed that we were on to her.
Since that incident, I never bought anything from Facebook retailers or even blogs. I’ve learned to tell the difference now since I bought a genuine Chanel from the boutique itself. Sometimes, when I go up the escalator, I see the person in front of me carrying a bag that appears to be a Chanel 2.55. I could tell it is a fake but I always wondered if the owner knew.